Comments on: Financial Times 14205 Phssthpok

By: Robi

Robi — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:35:12 +0000

[[Thanks scchua; I had 'The Prestige' in my first iteration, which I lost when I forgot to do the captcha. However, I hadn't realised it was about magicians. My 5 was, however, a valid link also. ]]

By: scchua

scchua — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:10:09 +0000

[[Robi, you're right about #s 1, 3 and 4 and close on 2 - well done. As usual, I've put links for the answers to 2 and 5 below the pictures.]]

By: Robi

Robi — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:09:10 +0000

Good puzzle, although I got stuck in the SW corner by confidently putting in ‘crowd’ for 22.

Thanks scchua; I also originally put in ‘extracts’ for 10, which almost fits the bill. I liked CLUBBING and TRIBUNAL, but didn’t warm to IMPS, although it couldn’t be much else.

[[#1 is Deborah Kerr who starred in The INNOCENTs
#2 looks like some kind of bear spray (Mace?) - there is a NUTMEG bear, but that seems a fairly unlikely connection. Could be an alternative to CLUBBING
#3 is Edward Norton, who starred in The Illusionist - a PRESTIDIGITATOR
#4 is a bunch of grapes; could be Trepat, otherwise known as TREPAN
#5 are Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johannson who were both RUNNERS-UP for Favourite Celebrity of the Year in 2006 in "The Golden Schmoes" - is that it??]]

By: MikeC

MikeC — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:42:29 +0000

Thanks s and P. Agree with your assessment of a good puzzle. I needed your help with parsing 6d, and failed on 20d (I thought “dictat” fitted the word play equally well and was probably a valid word – d’oh!).